In 4A action, No. 22 Estrella Foothills knocked off No. 11 Sahuaro 17-14 in overtime in a case study of the playoff expansion for football. The new expanded format either paid off or was a curse, depending on which program was affected by it. The 2A, 4A and 5A playoffs started two weeks ago for the 2A Conference and then Friday night for 4A and 5A Conferences under the modified 24-team formats where teams ranked 9-24 played on opening night for a shot at the second round, or what used to be the first round of 16 teams. There was one minor upset in the 2A ranks with No. 17 taking out No. 16 but there were three major upsets in 4A and another minor one in 5A.

Also in 4A, No. 20 NW Christian mounted a huge comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 13 Walden Grove 52-46 and, remarkably, No. 24 Paradise Honors took out No. 9 Peoria 31-21 to advance. Last year, players from 5A No. 17 Cienega, 4A No. 20 NW Christian, 4A No. 22 Estrella Foothills, 4A No. 24 Paradise Honors and 2A No. 17 Santa Cruz Valley would have already turned in their uniforms. As it turned out, Santa Cruz lost to No. 1 Veritas Prep 35-6 in the second round Friday night but another week of workouts and camaraderie with teammates, especially for the seniors, cannot be measured.

The 3A Conference did not expanded to 24 teams yet there were two upsets in the first round Friday night with No. 10 Gilbert Christian beating No. 7 Payson and No. 13 Florence beating No. 4 Thatcher. Though significant, the two upsets were not unusual in the 3A ranks with No. 12 Paradise Honors taking out No. 5 Mohave and No. 10 Round Valley beating No. 7 River Valley last year in the first round. This is two years in a row for Paradise Honors.

At Sahuaro, Estrella Foothills came in with a 7-3 record, with all three losses coming in the last five games and the Cougars spread their three losses near the beginning, against 5A power Desert View, at Walden Grove in the middle and against Mica Mountain last week. On paper, Sahuaro was the better team but the Wolves showed brilliance early on a successful trick play resulting from a reverse that turned into a pass downfield to stun the Sahuaro defense. The defense responded by forcing a missed field goal on that drive but a modification of that play would come back in the fourth quarter.

Isaac Lugo put Sahuaro up 7-0 with 2:57 left in the first on a 10-yard run and then Mariano Blackwell hit Xavier Shelton from 37-yards out to make it 14-0 with 8:43 remaining in the half. The Cougars had another excellent chance to score after Nicholas Bojoquez came up with an interception to give his team a first and goal situation but the Cougars missed on a 27-yard field goal after being unable to move the ball. That scenario also came back in the fourth quarter and in overtime for the Cougars.

Sahuaro gave up the ball on downs several times Friday night but the Wolves were unable to cash in on any of those turnovers until the end of the game and a fumble near the goal line ended a threat from Estrella Foothills after another turnover on downs from Sahuaro and the first half expired.

Estrella Foothills scored with 9:53 left in the game to cut the lead down to 14-7 on a run from Xander Teeter and then the Wolves pulled out another trick play after Sahuaro gave the back on downs rather than punting with QB Mickey Raftery tossing out to Jacob Rawls who then threw downfield to Shawn Ellison for 67 yards to tie the game up at 14-14 with 5:25 left.

The Cougars were unable to score in regulation and the team appeared primed to score but a sack in overtime forced a long field goal try and the miss gave the Wolves another opportunity and Gavin Knebel nailed a 27-yard field goal for the 17-14 win.

The Wolves will play at No. 6 Gila Ridge (9-1) Friday night..

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